Flash removing apparatus



April 15, 1952 R. BAlLls FLASK REMOVING APPARATUS Filed May 3, 1949 2 SHEETS--SHEET l April 15, 1952 R. BAlLls 2,592,640

FLASK REMOVING APPARATUS Filed May 3, 1949 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2 Fil.

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l M INVENTOR. 1? 91 Re aber? 5027213 A YZM Fl L ,Qzormg/ Patented Apr. 15, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENTA OFFICE FLASH R'EMovING APPARATUS Reuben Bailis, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application May 3, 1949, serial No. 91,080

2 Claims.

My invention relates to apparatus for removing the flash from welded` seams.

One object of the invention is to produce an improved apparatus of the type set forth.

A further object of the invention is to provide a` flash removing apparatus by means of which the flash is ground ofl instead of being out or scraped off.

A still further object is to produce a flash removing apparatus which can be operated with complete safety.

A still further object is to produce a iiash removing apparatus of the type set forth, which lends itself to continuous, or assembly line type of production.

A still` further object is to produce an improved ilash removing apparatus, which will be durable, simple to operate, and inexpensive to produce.

These and other objects are attained by my invention as set forth in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:`

Fig.. l is a front elevational view of a flash removing apparatus embodyingthe invention, some parts being omitted.

Fig. 2 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, and on a reduced scale, looking in the direction of line 2-2 on Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, looking in the direction of line 3--3 on Fig-1.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view lookingr in the direction of line 4-44on Fig. l.

Fig. 51 is a sectional view looking in the direction of line 5-5 on Fig. 3.

The apparatus illustrated includes an upper rotary cutter I@ and a lower rotary cutter I2, said cutters being adapted to act on opposite sides of a weld seam I4 to remove the flash, I6, which results when two sheets of metal I8 and 28 are butt-welded. See Fig. 5. The cutters are mount ed in upper and lower housings 22` and 23, which are carried by upper and lower portions of a slid.- ing carriage 28. The housings 22 and 23 are vertically` adjustable relative to their supports oy any suitable means, such as adjustment screws 38, so as to regulate the distance between the effective faces of the cutters according to the thickness oi" the sheets I8 and 2%.

The sliding carriage 28 is provided with lateral d tongues 32 which move in grooves 34 provided in a base housing 35. The base housing 3S is mounted on a chassis 38 which is provided with flanged wheels 40 adapted` to ride on a rail 42, whereby the entire apparatus may be moved from one location to` another.

The carriage 28 is moved relative to the base housing 36 by means of a screw 44 engaging a threaded collar 46, carried by the sliding carriage. The screw 44 is operated by a hand wheel` 41, mounted on a shaft 48, which is connected to the screw. The shaft 48 is supported in a bearing 49. carried by a bracket 5U, which is secured to, or which forms` part of base housing 35.

The sheets I8 and 20 are tightly clamped between a lower jaw 52 and an upper jaw 54, which are best shown in Fig. 5. The lower jaw 52 is in the nature of a flat plate which is secured to the base housing 36, and is, therefore, stationary. The upper jaw is formed of a horizontal portion 58 and a vertical portion 58 and is secured to the front end of a rocker arm 60 by` a-horizontal pivot pin 82, whereby the upper jaw has a rotary or rocking motion about the axis of the pivot pin. The rocker arm 60 is provided with brackets64, which overhang the upper jaw 54 and which carry set screws 86 for clamping the upper jaw in a manner and for a purpose hereinafter set forth. The rocker arm 60 is pivoted at 68 to fixed blocks l0, secured to, or forming part of, base housing 36. The pivoted mounting of the rocker arm 60 allows the upper jaw 54 to be moved, in an arcuate path, toward. or away from` the lower jaw 52, in a manner and for a purpose hereinafter set forth.

The rotary cutters are driven by motors M which are preferably air-actuated, but which may be actuated electrically, or otherwise. When the motors are air driven, they are supplied with compressed air through pipes 12, which are connected to a source of compressed air 'I4 and which are controlled by a valve 1B. The valve 'I6 may be operated automatically or by a foot pedal 'I8 to activate or deactivate the cutters.

The upper jaw 54 is moved to, and from, its clamping position against the lower jaw by any suitable means such as a double acting air cylinder 80, the opposite sides of which are connected by pipes 8l and 82 to a compressed air valve 83, which is supplied from a source of compressed air, not shown, through a pipe 84. The valve 83 is controlled by an operating handle 86 the position of which determines whether the compressed air shall enter pipe 8l or 82 and the arrangement is such that, when compressed air is supplied tothe lower portion of the air cylinder 88 through pipe 8l, the piston inside the air cylinder is moved upwardly, thus moving the rod 88 upwardly and causing ie rocker arm 68 to move in clockwise direction so` as to cause the upper jaw to move into clamping position against the lower jaw.

Conversely, when compressed air is admitted into the upper portion of the air cylinder 80 through pipe 82, the piston and the rod 08 are moved downwardly, thus rotating the rocker arm in counterclockwise direction and raising the upper Jaw.

In the interests of safety, the valve contro'l handle 86 is operated by means of a rocker arm 89 pivoted at 80 and tensioned to the solid line position of Fig. 4 by a spring 92. The other end 94 of the rocker arm 80 is provided with a set screw 96, which is disposed in the path of movement of the sliding carriage 28 whereby, when the sliding carriage 28 is moved backwardly, or from right to left in Figs. 3 and 4, the rear edge 98 of the carriage will strike the set screw 96, and will cause the rocker arm 89 to rotate, in counterclockwise direction and against the action of the spring 92, from the solid to the broken line position of Fig. 4. The arrangement is such that, when the rocker arm 89 moves to the broken line position, it moves control handle 86 of valve 63 to the position in which air to the upper portion of the air is admitted in cylinder 80, so as to rotate the rocker arm 60 in counter-clockwise direction and raise the upper jaw 54. When the carriage 28 has moved forwardly, or to the right in Figs. 3 and 4, enough to disengage from the set screw 96, the spring 92 returns the valve control handle 86 to the solid line position of Fig. 4. In this position of the valve control handle 86 compressed air is supplied to the lower portion of the air cylinder 80 so as to raise the rod 88 and move the rocker arm 60 in clockwise direction, thus bringing the upper jaw 52 to its clamping position as shown in the drawings.

In order to render the apparatus semi-automatic, I provide means for propelling the welded sheets in such a manner that the welded seams between successive pairs of sheets will automatically be accurately centered with reference to the vertical axes of the cutters. 'I'o this end, I provide auxiliary clamping jaws and |02 for clamping the sheets at a predetermined point, and I provide means for moving the auxiliary jaws, and the sheet clamped therebetween, a predetermined distance so as to bring the next succeeding ash to be removed into registration with the cutters. In the form illustrated, the auxiliary jaws |00 and |02 are carried by a carriage or housing |04, which is slidably mounted on the upper smooth side |06 of a rack |08 and which is provided with a pinion ||0 carried by a shaft ||0a and adapted to engage the rack. The shaft lilla also carries 'another pinion |019 which meshes with a gear |2 which is rotated by a hand Wheel |I4. Therefore, by turning hand wheel ||4 in either direction, the entire carriage may be moved to the right or to the left as viewed in Fig. 1. Adjustable stops |I6 and |'i serve to limit the movement of the housing |6. The distance between stop ||4 and stop ||6 plus the distance between stop and the cutters should be equal to the width or length of sheet |8 or 20 so that, with jaw 54 raised, and with jaws |00 and |02 clamped on the sheets therebetween, movement of the housing |94 from the position of Fig. l in which it abuts stop until it abuts stop ||l will automatically insure that the next flash to be removed will be exactly centered with reference to the cutters. Since sheets I8 and 20 come in specified standard sizes, it is onlynecessary to readjust stops ||6 and l1 when a run is finished and whenl the nextrun isto be of a differentsize; v

The lower jaw |92 is carried by bracket H8 se- 4 cured to or forming part of housing |04, but the upper jaw |00 is pivoted at ||9 to the end of a rocker arm |20 so that the jaw |00 is movable about the pivot H9. The rocker arm |20 is pivoted at |22 to bracket ||8, and the other end of the rocker arm is provided with a rod |24, which is connected to the piston or diaphragm of a double acting air cylinder |28. The cylinder |28 is carried by bracket H8, and is supplied with compressed air by pipes |30 connected to a source of compressed air |32 and controlled by a valve |34. The valve |34 may be operated by a foot pedal |36, and the arrangement is such that when compressed air is supplied to the lower portion of cylinder |28, the rocker arm |20 is moved in clockwise direction to bring the upper jaw |00 to the clamping position of Fig. 2 and vice versa.

The operation is as follows:

The cutters I0 and |2 are adjusted so that their eiective surface will remove all of the ilash but will not cut into the sheets I8 and 20. This is done by adjustment screws 30, which, for convenience, may be suitably indexed. The hand wheel 41 is then turned in a direction to-move the carriage 28 and the cutters carried thereby away from the iront end of the machine, or to the left as viewed in Figs. 3 and 4. When the carriage has moved back far enough to strike set screw 96 and move rocker arm 89 to the broken line position of Fig. 4, the rocker arm 60 moves in counter-clockwise direction and raises the upper jaw 54.

With the jaw 54 raised, the butt welded sheets, in pairs, or in a continuous strip formed of a large number of sheets welded together, are now brought to position with the seam registering with the axes of the cutters. The cutters are now rotated by opening valve 16 and the handwheel 4l is turned to move the carriagey28 toward the'operator at the front end of the machine, or to the right, as viewed in Fig. 3. As soon as the carriage moves forward and before the cutters have come into engagement with the rear, or left hand end of the seam, as viewed in Figs. 3 and 4, the rocker arm 89 is returned, by a spring 92, to its solid line position in Fig. 4, and the air cylinder now lowers the front end of the rocker arm 60 and the upper jaws 54 to the clamping position shown in the drawing. In order to make sure of a perfectly tight clamping action, the upper jaw 54 has a certain amount of play so as to seat itself properly on the sheet therebeneath and it is then tightened against the sheet and the lower jaw by turning screws 66 in a direction to bear down against the jaw 54. See Figs. 3 and 5. Further movement of the carriage 28 toward the operator will bring the cutters I0 and l2 into engagement with the rear edge of the seam and the rotating cutters grind oi the flash on both sides simultaneously. When the cutters have reached, and preferably cleared the front edge of the seam, the hand wheel 41 is turned in the opposite direction so as to move the carriage backwards. cleared the rear edge of the seam, the rear edge 98 of the carriage trips valve 86 and raises the upper jaw 54 so as to permit introduction of another pair of welded sheets or the movement of a continuous strip formed of many welded sheets so as to bring the next seam into position in registration with the cutters. It will be noted that the cutters go over the flash to be cut twice, once while the carriage moves forward orlfrom left to right as viewed in Fig. 3 and once when the carriage moves in the opposite direction. By

When the cutters have adjusting cutters properly, the flash is removed flush with the surfaces of the sheets so that very little, if any, trace of the flash is left.

When a large number of sheets of uniform size are welded together, the stops H6 and H1 are spaced so that if the carriage i04 is moved into abutment with stop H6 and the jaws IUD and |62 are clamped onto the sheet projecting to the left of the jaws 52 and 54, as viewed in Fig. 1, the movement of the carriage lli/l until it abuts stop i il will pull the sheets to an extent exactly enough to center the seam with reference to the cutters. When the size of the sheets is changed, the adjustment of stops H6 and H1 is Varied accordingly.

Each of the upper and lower jaws 52 and 54 is made of two pieces with the juxtaposed edges of these pieces bevelled as at I3D so as to permit adequate access of the cutters to the opposite surfaces of the sheets as best shown in Figs. 1 and 5.

The purpose of mounting the apparatus on a rail or track is so that apparatus may be used as an adjunct of a welding machine. In other Words, when a welding machine is in use, the iiash trimming apparatus illustrated is moved on its rail into position adjacent the welding machine. While in the drawing a single track is shown, it is to be understood that in an establishment where a number of welding machines are used, the arrangement of the track will be such that the flash removing apparatus can be selectively operatively coupled to one or the other of such machines. However, since the welding machine forms no part of this invention and since, once suggested, the lay out of the rails or tracks will Vary according to the location of the welding machines, it is deemed unnecessary to show any welding machine or more than one rail.

When a number of sheets are welded together, the resulting strip is sometimes formed into a coil and as is well known, the stresses developed due to the coiling of the sheet make handling the sheets and, particularly, aligning successive sheets with the cutters, dilcult and time consuming. The same difficulty is encountered when the flash removing apparatus is used as an adjunct of a continuously operated welding machine. By means of the auxiliary clamping jaws and |02 the sheets are tightly clamped while the jaws '2 and 54 are open, or disengaged from the sheets so that no displacement or lashing of the sheets can take place. In other words, in addition to their function in moving the welded sheets through predetermined distances, they also serve to keep the sheets under control.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for removing flash from the weld seam of butt-welded sheets, said apparatus including a supporting frame, a rst carriage slidably mounted on said frame, opposed, upper and lower rotary cutters carried by said first carriage, actuating means carried by said frame and operatively connected to said carriage for moving the same and said cutters longitudinally of the Weld seam joining adjacent sheets, a iixed lower jaw carried by said frame adjacent the path of movement of said cutters, an upper jaw, means pivotally mounting said upper jaw for movement about a horizontal axis normal to said path of movement, actuating means operatively connected to said upper jaw for moving it towards, and away from said lower jaw to clamp or release said sheets, a second carriage carried by said frame, a xed, lower, auxiliary jaw carried by said second carriage, an upper auxiliary jaw, means pivotally mounting said auxiliary upper jaw for movement about a horizontal axis normal to said path of movement, means operatively connected to said auxiliary upper jaw for moving it towards, and away from, said lower auxiliary jaw to clamp 0r release said sheets, means operatively connected to said second carriage for moving it toward and away from, and transversely of, said seam, to bring successive weld seams into registration with the path of movement of said cutters, and adjustable stops associated with said second carriage and said frame for limiting the transverse movement of said second carriage and said auxiliary jaws and the sheets clamped there between to a distance equal to the distance between successive seams to insure proper registration of successive seams with the axes of rotation of said cutters. The structure recited in claim 1 in which the axes about which both of the upper jaws rotate are located on the same side of the path of movement of the auxiliary carriage whereby said upper jaws move toward and away from their respective lower jaws in parallel vertical planes normal to said path of movement.

REUBEN BAILIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,832,719 McBerty Nov. 17, 1931 2,273,624 Campbell et al Febl. 17, 1942 2,327,920 Moohl Aug. 24, 1943 2,361,961 Pruitt Nov. '1, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 452,317 Great Britain Mar. 18, 1935 463,312 Great Britain Mar. 19, 1937 567,899 Great Britain Mar. 7, 1945 

